Losses aren't all bad

The panic has set in.  Already.  Apparently this town didn't learn anything from the Pens' first round win over the Islanders.  Going into last night's game 3 vs. the Ottawa Senators, the Pens held a 2-0 advantage in the best of 7 series.

The game was hard fought, and, in my opinion, the highest quality game of the playoffs so far.  Basically, here's how it went:  Both teams got a ridiculous amount of scoring chances, and both goaltenders stood on their heads to keep most of them out.  The only difference was, Ottawa goalie Craig Anderson allowed one goal, and Pittsburgh's Tomas Vokoun allowed two.  Neither goaltender deserved to lose.  That being said, Anderson did deserve to win more.  He was barraged all night, especially in both of the overtime periods, by quality scoring chances from the Penguins, who have some serious firepower.  It was a sight to behold, and Anderson turned in a performance you don't see often in the playoffs.

Late in the second overtime, it looked as though both goalies were brick walls.  Thoughts turned to the possibility of a third OT, and an even later Sunday night.  But then, after a shot from the point was stopped by Vokoun, Ottawa's speedy Colin Greening got to the rebound before a Penguins defenseman could, and backhanded home the game winner.  You can't fault Vokoun.  You can only feel sorry for him that his team couldn't do more with an incredible, 47 save performance.

So, heading into Wednesday's game 4 in Ottawa, I think the Penguins, and their fans, have no reason to be worried.  After all, we have a 2-1 series lead.  Experts and fans alike picked the Pens to win the series in five, six, or maybe seven games, so it is absurd to be too upset.  Because after all, you have two lose a game or two to win in five or six.  Nobody expected a sweep.

Here is why we shouldn't be too worried.

Last night's game was probably the Penguins' best performance of the playoffs so far.  Sometimes there are those nights, where you turn in an incredible performance as a team, and the other team slips away with the win.  You have to move on.  The Penguins generated scoring chance after scoring chance, tallying 49 shots over 4+ periods of play.  The first line, of Crosby, Kunitz, and Dupuis, was absolutely flying out there.  Evgeni Malkin looked like he was from another planet.  He looked like his old self again, last seen in 2012 and 2009.  He was flying through the neutral zone, and creating chaos in the zone with his puck movement, passes, and steals.  The fourth line generated some big pressure, which is a good bonus.  Anderson was having one of those nights.  He wouldn't be beaten

I also really liked the Pens' defense.  Ottawa was able to get a reasonable amount of offensive zone time, however, the Penguins seemed to be intercepting all of the cross ice passes and blocking most of the shots from the points.  We saw almost none of the carelessness we saw in round 1.

If they play like this on Wednesday, and beyond, things will be just fine.

Here's a video of Greening's game winner in 2OT:

Ottawa vs. Pittsburgh: After Two Games

The Penguins have taken a commanding 2-0 lead in this Eastern Conference Semi Final series against the Ottawa Senators.  After several years of having home ice in the playoffs, the Penguins were finally able to take advantage by winning the first two at home.

Last night, the Penguins won 4-3.  They played a game about as close to "Pittsburgh Penguins Ice Hockey" (as Dan Bylsma would put it) as we have seen in the playoffs so far.  The win was powered by two things:  goaltending/defense, and Sidney Crosby.

We're in the third period.  The Sens have just scored to pull within one goal of the Pens, with eighteen minutes remaining.  The Pens did not go crazy and try to score eight more goals, which is usually what leads to a collapse in the third.  They played terrific shutdown hockey.  After that goal at the 2:01 mark of the third period, the Penguins allowed just five shots on goal against them.  Goaltender Tomas Vokoun was sure to stop each one of them.  In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, scoring doesn't solve everything.  Putting up a wall on defense will be necessary every so often.  They did exactly that.

The other reason they won last night is that Sidney Crosby did what he does best.  He scored a hat trick (three goals in one game).  The first goal coming less than two minutes into the first period, the third came less than two minutes into the second period.  It wasn't just the number of goals he scored, it was the way he scored them.  He beat the other team both skillfully and intellectually.

On the first goal, he found himself with the puck in the neutral zone, skating towards the Senators' blue line.  He had plenty of options; he could have dumped it into the offensive zone, and he had passes available.  But he saw something he liked.  He saw Erik Karlsson.  The Senators' star defenseman, clearly not 100% healthy after returning from injury.  Karlsson has stunk defensively this series.  So Crosby went at Karlsson, who stepped up on Sid, who would promptly slide the puck across the defenseman, and speed around him.  He had an open lane to the net, and slipped it through the 5-hole of goaltender Craig Anderson.

The second goal is my personal favorite.  It looked like a bad goal for Anderson to give up, but you have to look closer.  It was a work of art.  Sid had the puck, streaking down the left wing boards.  He had linemate Pascal Dupuis going to the net.  Anderson guessed that Crosby would send a brilliant pass over to Dupuis for the easy goal (as he does very often).  Anderson cheated off the post, and moved to his right ever so slightly, preparing for the pass.  Crosby noticed this, and fired the puck into the space that Anderson vacated.  Brilliant.

The third goal was a thing of beauty, too.  Sid took a pass at the top of the left circle.  He waited for defenseman Phillips to try to block his shot, and in the process, screen his own goaltender.  Now that Anderson couldn't see, Crosby easily blew a slapshot by him for the HT.

Here's some highlights from last night's game, including all three of 87's goals:

Note: Sens' star center Jason Spezza has returned to full practice. Details on when he will return are unknown.  Remember the last time the Pens faced the Sens in the playoffs in 2010?  Crosby enjoys matching up against Spezza, as you can see here:

Have a nice day.